Promising start to European campaign
As champions of Denmark F.C. Copenhagen competes in the UEFA Champions League this season and because of the continuing European success of previous years the side is actually seeded to go all the way to the group stage. En-route there the first hurdle happens to be the Montenegrin champions of FK Mogren – an obstacle that the Copenhagen side all but pushed aside in the home leg on Wednesday.
By Lars Kristensen
Mogren opened the game with a surprisingly aggressive approach but the Copenhagen players had no trouble fending them off. In fact they utilized the huge gaps left behind by the visiting team to build a quick 3-0 lead and as the strain of the match began to take its toll on the Montenegrins in the latter part of the second half these goals were complemented by another three to make for what must surely be an unassailable 6-0 advantage going into the return leg.
Thomas Kristensen
- Up until the game we had had great difficulties in assessing the true strength of the Mogren squad – we just did not know a whole lot about them and therefore we feared that they were much better than they actually proved to be. Anyway, my opening goal was easy as pie; their defender misses the tackle leaving Cesar wide open after which he just puts it across for a simple touch.
Martin Vingaard
- It was great to be in the starting line-up and play the entire match. I would of course have loved also to add to the score but today the ball just wouldn’t go in for me. However, as a team, we played wisely by keeping up the pace throughout the game and in the end it was clear that we had worn them down.
Jesper Christiansen
- We controlled the game and created plenty of chances. Personally, it was rather a quiet day at the office for me, but it still feels good to have shut out the opponent so thoroughly in the first game of the season. We did not know much about Mogren, and so did not quite know what to expect, but after the opening thirty minutes everyone could see how it would end. And although it won’t be a complete walk-over in the return leg, we will of course progress on the back of tonight’s result.
F.C. Copenhagen defends its 6-0 lead in Montenegro this coming Wednesday at 20.35 CET. This is the first of three qualification rounds before the actual group stage itself and already it has been determined that the winner of the tie will play the following round against either Stabæk of Norway or Tirana of Albania.
Game stats:
F.C. Copenhagen – FK Mogren 6-0 (3-0)
1-0, Thomas Kristensen (8)
2-0, Mathias Zanka Jørgensen (16)
3-0, Ailton Almeida (24)
4-0, Dame N'Doye (69)
5-0, Dame N'Doye (74)
6-0, Morten Nordstrand (83)
Spectators: 12.226
